Since health-care professionals (HCPs) are at a high risk of unintentional exposure to hepatitis B virus (HBV) from infected patients, the purpose of this study was to evaluate HCPs’ knowledge, awareness, attitude, and behavior regarding hepatitis B vaccine. From January to April 2015, researchers performed cross-sectional research in seven major Saudi cities using a pre-tested, validated questionnaire. The questionnaire was divided into four sections: demographics, knowledge, awareness of hepatitis B infection, and HCP attitudes about HBV. SAS® V9.2 was used to evaluate the data gathered from research participants. Approximately 16.5 percent of participants reported not having had the hepatitis B vaccine; nonetheless, the majority of participants felt that hepatitis B was prevalent and that vaccination was an effective method for reducing disease occurrence. 31.2 percent of non-vaccinated individuals felt the hepatitis B vaccination was unsafe, whereas only 8 percent of vaccinated participants held this opinion. Furthermore, 36.4 percent of non-vaccinated individuals were doubtful about the vaccine’s efficacy, compared to 24.3 percent of vaccinated participants. The inability to purchase the vaccination was reported by 18.2 percent of the unvaccinated group compared to only 4 percent of the vaccinated group.
HCPs have a high degree of hepatitis B vaccine coverage, however the values observed are below worldwide norms. Researchers of this study feel that the barriers to immunization for non-vaccinated HCPs must be addressed.
Reference: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21645515.2019.1629255
